India’s injury list finally shows a bit of good news: Jasprit Bumrah will lead the attack in the fourth Test at Old Trafford and Rishabh Pant’s finger appears serviceable enough for him to continue keeping. Two days out, those are the firm facts. Everything else still sits on the physio’s table.
“So far, we only know that Jassi [Bumrah] bhai will play,” Mohammed Siraj admitted after training in Manchester on Monday. His was the first public confirmation that India’s spearhead had ticked every fitness box following the niggle that kept the management cautious at Lord’s.
Pant, who jarred his left index finger during that same Test, batted, kept and even did a bit of sprint work in a session that stretched beyond two hours. No protective taping, no visible discomfort. A senior support-staff member offered a thumbs-up but stopped short of an official all-clear, saying only that the medical team would “sleep on it and reassess in the morning”. Privately, though, selectors are planning with Pant at No. 6 and the gloves.
The puzzle grows trickier further down the pace list. Akash Deep’s sore groin remains touch-and-go. He bowled on Monday, but only into bowling coach Morne Morkel’s mitt – essentially a glorified game of catch. Decision-makers want to see him at full tilt before risking him in a five-day match that ends just three days before the series finale at The Oval.
If Akash doesn’t make it, India must pick between Prasidh Krishna and uncapped Anshul Kamboj. Prasidh’s tour numbers – average 55.16, economy 5.33 – look ugly, yet context matters. The team asked him to pound the middle-of-the-pitch channel for extended spells, a job that fetched wickets at Headingley but haemorrhaged runs at Edgbaston.
Kamboj, 24, lacks Test experience but not advocates. Since the start of 2022 he has taken 79 first-class wickets at 22.88, moving the ball off the seam rather than relying on extravagant swing. Insiders say MS Dhoni told team management during this year’s IPL that the Haryana quick “hits the splice more often than most”, a trait valued in English conditions. That endorsement alone doesn’t guarantee a cap, yet it keeps him firmly in the conversation.
All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, lively at Lord’s as fourth seamer, has been ruled out for the rest of the series. His absence likely reopens a spot for left-hander Sai Sudharsan. The Tamil Nadu batter played the opener at Headingley – scores of 0 and 30 – before being sacrificed for the off-spinning option of Washington Sundar once conditions started to resemble midsummer dust. At Old Trafford, where the surface usually offers bounce rather than turn, India could restore Sudharsan and retain balance by swapping Washington for Shardul Thakur, who covers both lower-order runs and a fourth-seamer’s workload.
Weather, as ever in Manchester, lurks in the background. Early forecasts suggest light showers on days one, two and five. Fewer overs might spare Bumrah some of the strain that previously had the selectors pencilling him in for only three of the five Tests. If the title remains alive heading to The Oval, don’t entirely rule out a fourth appearance from him, workload spreadsheets notwithstanding.
England’s camp, meanwhile, has kept an eye on developments without showing its hand. With the series delicately poised, the hosts know the mere presence of Bumrah alters batting plans. One senior England player, speaking on background, called Bumrah “the bowler who squeezes your scoring options like no one else in world cricket.” That respect shapes tactics long before anyone marks a guard.
For India, though, the immediate equation is simpler. Bumrah looks ready, Pant looks ready, and the rest hinges on how Akash Deep wakes up on Tuesday. A decision there will ripple through the XI, influencing whether they lean on Thakur for overs, trust Prasidh to find rhythm, or hand Kamboj a debut that has been bubbling under the surface.
Selection meetings rarely end neatly, and this one feels no different. Still, after a fortnight of physio reports stacking up like weather updates, India will happily take two clear positives. Tests in England are often decided by who fields their best bowlers longest; having Bumrah on the park is a very decent start.
